Right and left hand pistol grip



June 1967 P. FINKELSTEIN 3,327,421

RIGHT AND LEFT HAND PISTOL GRIP Filed Sept. 28, 1965 FIG. 7 FIG 3 62 R- /;Z k

INVENTOR. fi/x/u fl/m) flmkasriw United States Patent 3,327,421 RIGHT AND LEFT HAND PISTOL GRIP Philip Finlrelstein, 805 Via Couejo, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. 90274 Filed Sept. 28, 1965, Ser. No. $1,060 1 Claim. (Cl. 42-71) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

The present invention relates to pistol grip members, often referred to as pistol stocks, and, in particular, to stocks adapted for use with .45 caliber Government or service model automatic pistols.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a grip or stock capable of being mounted either on the right or the left hand side of the handle of the .45 caliber Government-model automatic pistol.

Another object is to provide a stock in accordance with the foregoing object, the stock retaining the functional advantages of standard stocks such as presently are used on these particular pistols.

The .45 service or Government-model automatic pistol has remained essentially unmodified since about 1921 and, because of its power, safety features, reliability and other advantageous features, this model should continue in substantial use. One difficulty, however, which has been experienced arises from the fact that the stocks or grip portions which, as stated, are secured to each side of the handle or receiver, are formed with differing contours and dimensions, i.e. the left hand members are formed in a different manner than the right hand ones. The reason for the differences apparently is due to the fact that certain operating mechanisms of the pistol project outwardly of the pistols handle portion or receiver, and the projections on the right hand side differ from those on the left. Since these mechanisms must be available to the operator both in firing and in dismounting or assembly procedures, it is essential that the grips provide clearance for these projections. Obviously, the ordering, manufacturing, shipping, storing, inventorying and issuing of these grips is complicated by the past use of both the right and left hand members. Also, situations have arisen in which supply systems of the armed forces are over-stocked on grips for one hand and, at the same time, completely out of grips for the other. As already indicated, this condition has existed for a number of years and, among other problems, it has resulted in substantially increased and unnecessary expense.

According to the present invention, a single grip or stock is provided which will fit both sides of the service pistol under consideration and which should eliminate many of the problems of the past years.

The invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings of which:

PEG. 1 is a prior art view showing a left hand grip conventionally used by the Armed Forces for the .45 caliber service model automatic pistol;

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the exterior face of the grip of the present invention and further showing, in offset arrangement, certain structural details of the grip;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are end views of the upper and lower ends, respectively, of the grip; and

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the interior face of the grip of the present invention.

It further should be carefully noted at this point that the drawings have been drawn to full scale. Consequently, if desired, the stock of the present invention can be produced by following the dimensions and contours of the illustrations. To facilitate practice of the invention,

3,327,421 l 'atented June 27, 1967 ice pertinent dimensions and contours have been identified on the drawings.

Stocks or grips such as those under consideration, can be made of wood, preferably walnut, or they can be formed of a molded plastic, the plastic, most suitably, being of a type conforming with Government specifications both in composition and color, which conventionally is a semi-gloss brown. If the stock is formed of Wood, its external contours will be specially shaped by any suitable manufacturing process and in the subsequent detailed description it will be assumed that such a shaping process is being conducted. In a molding process, the molds themselves, of course, provide the desired contours and dimensions.

Another notable feature of the invention, however, is the fact that the stock of the present invention also can be easily formed by starting with a conventional left hand stock illustrated in FIG. 1. Consequently, all of the left hand stocks presently in supply systems of the US. Government readily can be converted to the more versatile stock of the present invention and this conversion can result in a substantial immediate saving. The manner in which this conversion can be performed will be considered subsequently. It also is possible to convert present right hand stocks into a shape which will permit their use on either side of the pistol.

Referring to FIGS. 2 5 of the drawings, the present stock has an outer or exterior face 1 and an interior face 2 (FIG. 5), the outer face being scored or checkered in the illustrated manner to facilitate the operators gripping of the pistol, and the inner face having a fiat surface permitting flush contact with the pistols handle. Also, as shown in FIG. 5, the interior face is provided with certain recesses 3 which are non-functional but, according to government specifications, are permitted within reasonable limits for stability of a molded product.

To permit the stock to be secured to the pistol, it is provided with a pair of holes or openings 4 and 6, these openings being positioned precisely as shown in the drawing and being spaced a distance of about 3.074 inches. The cross-sectional contour of the stock can best be seen in the end views of FIGS. 3 and 4 where it will be noted that exterior face of the stock is provided with a radius of curvature of 1 inches, this radius terminating in a fiat side wall 8 which is about V of an inch thick. The total thickness of the stock taken on its longitudinal center is .255 inch or slightly less.

For descriptive purposes, it can be considered that the stock has a pair of flaring sides 9 and 11, as well as an upper end portion 12 and a lower end portion 13, the sides flaring outwardly from the upper end portion to the lower in conformity with FIG. 2 or 5.

There are three functional contours which permit the present stock to be used on either side of the pistol handle, these being the contour of upper end 12, the contour of lower end 13 and a notch 15 formed on side wall 9, which side wall, as shown in FIG. 2 can be considered as the right hand side wall.

Again referring to FIG. 2, the contour of the stock about its perimeter will be described by commencing with its upper left hand corner and proceeding clockwise. The upper left hand corner can be located by circumscribing a radius fixed on the center of opening 4, the radius being .61 inch with a tolerance of .01 inch. Starting at this corner, upper end 12 is formed by first providing an arcuately beveled section 16 having a radius of curvature of 1 inches, this beveled section extending from the corner to a point which is A of an inch from a vertical line through the axis of opening 4 and being centered on point 20. Proceeding from this point, the upper end portion has another arcuate bevel 17 also having a radius of 1 inches, this radius being taken about point 18 which is directly below the termination of the first arcuate section. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, upper end portion 12 is provided with a straight bevel 19 which, as shown in the fragmentary offset of FIG. 2, has an angle of inclination of 20 minutes plus or minus 0 30 minutes. This bevel which extends from the interior face of the stock outwardly, has a width of about of an inch, thus providing the upper end 12 with a thin flange portion 21 most clearly seen in FIG. 5.

The right hand upper corner of the stock is located by circumscribing a radius fixed on the center of opening 4, this radius being about .591 inch. However, as again seen in FIG. 2 flange 21 does not extend the whole way to the upper left hand corner but instead is provided with a notched out portion 23, shaped and dimensioned as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. With the upper end portion dimensioned and contoured in the foregoing manner, it will be found that it is capable of providing clearance for any of the mechanical parts which project either from the right or left hand side of the pistols handle, while, at the same time, providing coverage and a gripping surface for the handle which is the equivalent of the conventional right and left hand grips.

As previously stated, right hand side portion 9 is formed with a notch 15, this notch having a radius of inch and also having its center or point of maximum depression spaced .36 inch below the center of opening 4.

Lower end portion 13 of the stock is formed with two beveled sections 26 and 27, the bevels, as shown in the offset of FIG. 2, being at an angle of about and further having a junction which at its lowest point is spaced /2 inch below the center of opening 6. Also, as shown in FIG. 2, the bevels are inclined at an angle of 12. To form these bevels, the lower right hand corner of the stock is located by circumscribing an axis fixed on the center of lower opening 6 and having a radius of about .720. Bevel 26 then may be formed as previously stated with an angle of inclination of 12 and a face inclination of about 45 The bevel, of course, is cut to the junction point which, as also indicated, is /2 inch below the center of opening 6. The lower left hand corner of the stock also may be located by circumscribing a radius fixed about the center of opening 6, this radius, however, being about .771 inch. Left hand side wall 11 simply has the illustrated straight taper.

A stock or grip formed in the foregoing manner has a unique and functional contour particularly at its upper and lower ends, as well as side wall 9, which enables its use either on the right or the left hand side of the handle of the .45 caliber service model automatic pistol. As previously indicated, such a versatile contour provides substantial advantage particularly in eliminating the need for differing stock shapes and thereby reducing the inventory of the stocks without sacrificing the service which they render. This reduction in inventory represents a saving since substantially less money is tied up in supplies of spare parts. Further, there is substantially less administrative and clerical effort in maintaining a supply of grips and again this reduction results in a cost saving.

It previously has been indicated that a further feature of the invention is that this stock can be very simply formed by slightly modifying the left hand grips in present use. In fact, as may be observed by comparing FIGS. 1 and 2, the only changes that need be made are three in number and they include the formation of beveled sections on the upper end portion 12; the formation of notch 15, and the provision of beveled section 26 on lower end portion 13. Bevel 29 of FIG. 1 has the same 45 bevel and 12 taper as bevel 27 of FIG. 2. FIG. 1, as previously stated, is the left hand grip which has been in continuous use for a long period of time. Consequently, with a minimum of expense, present inventories of either left or right hand grips can be re-worked and need not be sacrificed.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claim the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

A pistol grip comprising a thin elongate member having exterior and interior faces provided with spaced upper and lower openings disposed on the longitudinal center line of said member and located for enabling attachment of the member to a pistol,

specially-formed upper and lower end portions, and

side walls extending between the upper and lower end portions, one of said side walls being of greater length than the other and said walls flaring outwardly from top to bottom,

said shorter side wall being provided with a shallow arcuately notched section formed in its upper portion below and proximate to the center of said upper opening,

said upper end portion being formed in substantial conformity with the following specifications:

commencing with the corner defined by the int-ersection of said longer side wall and said upper end portion (now defined as the left-hand corner), said upper end portion is formed with:

a flat arcuately beveled section extending from said left corner to a terminal point on the upper end portion approximately inch to the left of the center line of said elongate pistol grip member,

a straight beveled section extending from the said terminal point to the right-hand corner of said upper end portion, and

a thin arcuately-beveled flange portion extending from said terminal point to a second terminal point spaced a short distance from said righthand corner,

said straight beveled section extending from said interior face outwardly to said thin flange portion, and

said lower end portion being formed of a pair of straight angular extents projecting inwardly and downwardly from each corner of the lower end portion and meeting at an apex point disposed substantially on said center point of said elongate pistol grip member, said angular extents each being formed with a continuous upwardly-beveled surface extending outwardly from the interior face of said member,

whereby said member is adapted to be secured to either side of pistol.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 708,794 9/1902 Browning 89196 X 900,865 10/1908 Louis 89-196 X 1,202,707 10/1916 Grieoo 42-7 X 1,563,675 12/1925 Tansley 427 X 2,627,686 2/1953 Shockey 427 X 2,776,602 l/1957 Sturtevant 89-196 3,159,080 12/1964 Freed 427 X 3,207,037 9/1965 Pachmayr et al 89196 SAMUEL W. ENGLE, Primary Examiner.

BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Examiner. 

